Brooklyn Based Filmmaker

Sean Mannion has been producing films, videos, and podcasts since 2008. His work has screened at The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, The Big Apple Film Festival, Cucalorus, IndieWorks, The New York Television Festival, Channel 101 NY, The Long Island International Film Expo, IndieBoom!, The Ax Wound Film Festival, The DUMBO Film Festival, The Underground Film Festival, The Brooklyn Short Film Festival, The New Filmmaker’s New York Series, ZedFest, and more. Since 2016 he has collaborated with fellow filmmaker Nicole Solomon under the production company name 4MileCircus. In addition to his film, video, and podcast work, Sean is a media educator who has taught media making skills in a wide variety of contexts working with BRIC Arts Media, Manhattan Neighborhood Network, The NYC Center for Media Education, New York Film Academy, The Patton Veterans’ Project, the School of Visual Arts and more.

Select Film and Video Projects

Meme is the first feature film from Sean Mannion. It is available to watch now through AppleTV, Vimeo, and more.

Meme won “Best Narrative Feature” at the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival.

Synopsis: Jennifer, an independent designer disappointed in her stalled relationship and career, discovers a surreal mashup videotape, labeled “Meme,” among a friend’s VHS collection. She goes in search of Meme’s creator, tracking down people who appear on the tape to gain greater insight into what it is and why it exists. As she pursues the creator of the tape she takes greater control of other aspects of her life including her relationship, difficult clients, and a drinking problem that increasingly interferes with her life.

“Walk of Shame” is a music video directed by Sean Mannion for the band Late Cambrian. The song was used for the opening titles of Meme and footage from the film appears in the video. The video is available on the Late Cambrian YouTube page.

Late Cambrian is: John Wlaysewski, Olive Hui, Matthew Milligan, Ben Weiss, Eric Zeender Future Snacks is out now on all streaming platforms. https://www.instagram.com/latecambrian/

“Beneath the Black Moon” is a horror comedy short written & directed by Sean Mannion as a ‘film-within-a-film’ for his feature film Meme. The full version of Beneath the Black Moon is available on YouTube.

Synopsis: The best parts of VHS horror film Beneath the Black Moon recorded from one bad VHS tape onto another bad VHS tape.

“Reveal” is an animated horror comedy short film written by Nicole Solomon and Co-Directed by Sean Mannion and Nicole Solomon. Reveal is screening at festivals in 2023 and available via the 4MileCircus Patron.

Synopsis: A pregnant woman senses something is amiss when her sister throws her an unwanted baby shower.

“Rubbery Ducky” is a short film written & directed by Sean Mannion. It is available on YouTube.

Synopsis: Tara finds a rubber duck on the street after a fight with Rory.

“It’s Normal” is a horror short written by Sean Mannion and directed by Nicole Solomon. “It’s Normal” is available on Vimeo.

Synopsis: A young woman checks in on a friend from her grief support group and learns that her changing world may be even scarier than it appears on the surface.

“Time Signature” is a short sci fi film crowdfunded and shot in 2014. It is available on Vimeo.

Synopsis: Danielle befriends her favorite guitarist, Astra, backstage at a concert. The two women head out on an impromptu road trip and Astra reveals that she’s a time-traveler who has come back to change Danielle’s future.

“Abel and Cain” is a surreal short film crowdfunded and produced in 2012.

Synopsis: Danielle befriends her favorite guitarist, Astra, backstage at a concert. The two women head out on an impromptu road trip and Astra reveals that she’s a time-traveler who has come back to change Danielle’s future.

For more film and video projects see 4MileCircus.com

Blog Posts

  • Three Questions with Lisa Hammer

    Three questions is all about sharing more about the fun people that I have had the pleasure of working with. These brief interviews appear in my monthly newsletter (which you can subscribe to here) and I am republishing them to the blog. The following interview with filmmaker and musician Lisa Hammer was originally published in the January 2016 edition…

  • Three Questions with Nicole Witte Solomon

      Three questions is a new thing I decided to do because I like the people I work with and want to share more about them and what they do and what they care about. These brief interviews appear in my monthly newsletter (which you can subscribe to here) and I am republishing them to the…

  • Three Questions with Chris Cuffaro

    Three questions is a new thing I decided to do because I like the people I work with and want to share more about them and what they do and what they care about. These brief interviews appear in my monthly newsletter (which you can subscribe to here) and I am republishing them to the blog. The…

  • Three Questions with Carolyn Maher

    Three questions is a new thing I decided to do because I like the people I work with and want to share more about them and what they do and what they care about. These brief interviews appear in my monthly newsletter (which you can subscribe to here) and I am republishing them to the…

  • Wotan Lager Commercials

    Meme has a couple of videos or films that are intercut with the main narrative. There is the film-within-a-film Beneath the Black Moon. There is also the Meme videotape, which the film is named after. Then, there are the beer commercials for our fake brand: Wotan Brewing. Unlike the first two these weren’t conceived with…

  • Maybe Sunshine is Coming

    Maybe Sunshine is a web series I’m producing starring Lisa Hammer and her band Radiana. The show was pitched to me in 2014 as being tonally like Curb Your Enthusiasm. Lisa and her husband, and show co-creator/director, Levi had some ambitious ideas about the project and I was sold on it pretty quickly. Since our initial meeting…

  • Beneath the Black Moon: A Film Within a Film

    Beneath the Black Moon is our film-within-the-film for Meme. It’s not our main video in the film but it serves some important plot points. It was referenced in some earlier versions of the script and ultimately became a bigger part of the story as rewrites progressed. No scenes were explicitly referenced but the tone and…

  • Meme Year-End Update

    It has been a bit of journey getting this film to where it is right now. At this point in 2013 I was looking at our unsuccessful Kickstarter for the film and thinking about how or even if we’d be getting the project off the ground. A lot of things changed. I simplified the script.…

  • Meme Principal Photography Wrapped

    In 2013 I decided it was time to make my first feature. I’d put together many shorts over the last few years and it was time to step up to something bigger. I came up with a concept that played on some of the themes I’d been toying with and started writing a script. That film…

  • Meme Update

    Production on Meme has been continuing for the last few months. Our shooting around schedules and working on the film mostly on weekends process has made the production a little extended, but the end of principal photography is in sight. Our most recent shoot days were Memorial Day Weekend in May (or as Producer/AD Carolyn Maher…